Homegrown System

Alice pored over the list of skills. It all fit on one page, and she didn't have to scroll at all. But her options kind of made sense, given what she'd been up to. She'd certainly done a lot less fighting than Titus had, and he was choosing his third skill, not a second. So maybe she would get more and stronger options as she leveled up, too.

Besides, having more options didn't mean they were necessarily better options. She had enough problems choosing from her list as it was. She didn't want more options than this. Not at all. Totally.

All of them looked good in some ways, but none really played to her strengths. She could pick any of them and get some general boost, but nothing felt very special or specific to her. Of all the options, she was leaning towards [Mana Sight] or [Enhanced Perception].

Perhaps [Appraisal] will be useful down the line, but right now, it wouldn't be very helpful. Knowing something's value is better when there's people to trade with, though knowing its properties would be good.

As long as she stuck with Titus, the idea of really picking [Weapons Mastery], [Survival Skills], or [First Aid] seemed redundant. [Stealth] might be a useful pick as well, as she clearly was lacking in that department, but it was a hard choice.

A few minutes into her pondering, Titus slid down the wall next to her, dropping into an easy crouch. The position looked as natural for him as sitting or standing.

Looking up into his face, she realized he looked particularly serious, as though he had something he wanted to say. She pushed aside the thoughts about skill selections temporarily. His expression was unusually somber, reminding her of when they had first met earlier that evening.

"I wanted to thank you for your help. I was surprised when you came back," he stated. During the whole time, he held eye contact in such a way that it was hard for her to look anywhere else.

Alice was starting to feel a tiny bit offended, thinking he was accusing her of being a coward and running away. Still, he continued before she could say anything.

"I had thought that I was just buying time for you to get away. A swarm of level 12 enemies is no joke. They're more than three times your level. Well, they were." Titus said, finally breaking eye contact.

Alice froze, pondering for a second. Buying time for her to get away. Titus had done a lot for her, but they had just met. To think that he was willing to sacrifice himself so she could have a chance to finish what she started and maybe undo this whole thing was making her choke up. When she became emotional, she found it difficult to speak, and she took a second to wipe her right eye with the collar of her borrowed shirt.

"I'm touched. Though you could have run too, you know. We could have gotten away together," she said. No matter how hard she tried to look up at his face to return the respect he had shown her, her gaze was stuck to the ground at his feet, and her words came out in a mumble.

"Hmmpf." Titus exhaled, and the juxtaposition of the silly sound and the seriousness of their conversation up to that point made her look up. She saw Titus give her a genuine smile, and then she watched as the smile turned slightly wicked.

"Nah, I was just waiting for you to get away so I wouldn't have to worry about protecting you anymore," he said, the forced nature of the cheer leaving his voice halfway through the sentence. "But thanks for the help anyway. Their attacks kind of tickled."

He gave her a light punch in the shoulder and a rakish grin. She reached over and swatted his hand away. "As if. You were practically weeping on the floor when I came to help."

He took it in stride. "And you won't say a word about that to anyone, will you?"

She looked him up and down imperiously. "Depends. Only if you don't tell anyone about me screaming in the forest."

"Scout's honor," he said with a mock salute as he stood up and paced around a little bit. "Though, we definitely underestimated the threats even lower leveled monsters could propose. Next time, we need to go in with a better plan."

"Next time, I can just run away immediately and leave you for dead," Alice said.

"Please do. It would make my life a lot easier."

They sniped back and forth for a few moments before Alice felt a bit more normal. It was nice to be able to have a serious talk now and then, to know that Titus was capable of such consideration. Also, it was good that he didn't let her ponder anything too serious for too long. They had too many important things to do to be bogged down in self-doubt.

When that thought occurred to her, Titus seemed to have a similar understanding. As if he realized that she felt better after both the fight and his honesty, he brought the topic back to what they were doing.

"Anyway, what skill have you picked up?"

Shaking her head, she looked at him. "I haven't decided yet."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be this video game mastermind genius, inventor extraordinaire?" Titus said.

"I have literally never said that," Alice shot back. "In fact, many times, I've said that the game has already changed a ton from what I knew before. I recognize a lot of these skills, sure, but some of them are new. So who's to say that the previously obvious selections are still obvious?"

"Well, what's caught your eye?" he asked.

"Well," she said, reading through the list again and listing off favorites. "It's between [Mana Sight], [Stealth], [Magic Resistance], and maybe [Enhanced Perception]."

"Hmm," Titus said. "I don't think you need stealth. It would be nice, but between the two of us, we have a large blind spot when it comes to magic. I would say either [Mana Sight] or [Magic Resistance] would be useful. And your magic stat is rather high, if I remember correctly, at least higher than mine."

"Right. It's much higher than my physical as well. And I don't think [Enhanced Strength] would be a good idea if I understand the magic and physical stats correctly."

Titus crossed his arms. "I think I have some idea, but please. Enlighten me."

"Well, I think they kind of act like modifiers. I'm not exactly sure, but I think the physical stat adjusts your power, speed, and control for physical things, and the magical stat adjusts your power, speed, and control for magical things. I have, what seven speed? And I'm willing to bet I'm still way slower than you were when you had seven speed."

Titus nodded. "Understandable... So, you think it has to do with our physical and magical stats."

"Right. So, since I have a higher magical modifier, I should probably pick some sort of focus on magic. Maybe."

"Well, assuming we're going to be able to partner long-term, but yes, I don't see why that would be a problem. Besides, magic is cool." Titus nodded for emphasis.

"I see where you're going with this. I think I agree with you..." She hummed to herself, thinking for several moments. "Yeah. Ok. Then I think I'm gonna have to go with [Mana Sight]," she said, deciding.

As she chose it, she explained her reasoning. "[Magic Resistance] would be nice, but if I really want to dive into the magic side of things, I need to understand it. And in order to understand it, I need to be able to see it. Resistance would be great, and if anything, I suggest that you pick that up if you have a chance, but I'd rather actively combat it. And [Mana Sight] seems to be the first way of actually interacting with it that I've seen."

Titus nodded. "Solid reasoning. So, at least you can continue to be a nerd."

Alice ignored him and stood up. The second the skill settled in, the world changed around her. Colors became brighter, and previously imperceptible lines of energy flowed all throughout the world. It was dazzling, blinding, and beautiful. She looked around herself in awe for a moment.

As Alice continued to observe her surroundings, though, she realized she had no idea of what it all meant. She couldn't make heads or tails of anything. They just seemed to be various colors, painted over everything in a way that actually obstructed her regular vision and told her nothing about the magic associated with them. Not its purpose, not its power, not its type, form, or anything. But she could work on it. It would be a puzzle.

Looking at her hands, they appeared just as they normally did. No additional colors or energies burst forth from her. On the other hand, Titus blazed like a sun. She practically had to shield her eyes in order to look at him.

That must be because he's at a higher level. Can I not see my own magic?

She saw a few dim spots in the distance. When she looked closer, it appeared to be stragglers of the birds, the Thunder Sparrows. But they were nothing compared to what Titus was. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she concentrated on trying to turn off the skill, but nothing happened.

With increasing panic, she kept pressing at the skill, trying to get it to respond. To do anything. The only thing that changed was that the structures in her own skin began to glow as well, and she could make out the bones of her hand in front of her eyes as the light of Titus shone through her flesh. She tried to open her menu and deactivate the skill somehow. However, she couldn't read the text through the blinding light.

Alice screamed, the sensations overwhelming her. The blinding light pierced through her brain, making it all too apparent that she still had a concussion. It was like staring into the sun. The small amount of pain she had felt looking into the fire when she first woke up was nothing compared to this.

She barely felt Titus catch her as she collapsed, and mercifully, everything went dark.